The most common phrase in YPP nowadays is "the game is dying". Some people say it isn't, and others say there's no reason to whine about it because it is still playable.But there are different kind of players. While some can still enjoy it, some definitely CAN'T.

So I will try to point out all the activities that you could do if the game had more people (like some years back), but now you can't do.

- Be a 1v1 parlor games player. Please, the only 1v1 game that gets some players nowadays is SF, and it's getting less and less too. Where are the rumblers, drinkers and treasure-droppers? They all left because they don't have opponents to play with. Puzzles like rumble which used to have around 60-70 ults (6000-7000 active rumblers) and constant wagers are now desert, and you must wait plenty of minutes, sometimes without any success, to get a single oponent. Don't even try to wager.I used to play this game just for TD, and when I came back I was like in shock. Never getting opponents. I tried to move to rumble, which used to be a very big puzzle and it's the same thing. Literally no players. My main income (wagers) and reason to play is now gone.

- Multiplayer rumble, drinking and swordfighting. You'll very occassionally see a 2v2 sf if you are lucky, but the rest doesn't exist anymore.

- Play a single ocean. Due to the lack of activity, playing on more than an ocean at the same time is like a must nowadays. There are some moments, especially at the least popular times, where there isn't any tournament or SMH, and just 1-2 pillages in the NB for hours. I like CIs and no way you'll fill a sloop with good people at certain times. And if you don't like cit runs, then you won't SMH much, since it's all about those :/

- Player-run events, or socializing events. Remember the old mansion or estate parties? They happened sooo often. I've never seen one since I came back. Well, not that you could fill a mansion or an estate nowadays.

- Monster frays. I have not seen any fray bigger than 7 or 8 v 8, and you have to wait plenty of minutes. I remember the old 30+ frays that filled sooo fast.

- Loading times. ZZZZ

I'm pretty sure there are more activities that can't be done anymore but could be done in the past. The objective of this post is to point out that there are reasons to say the game isn't that playable anymore, and to make the ones who say there is nothing to complain about think twice and think about the rest.

Feel free to post if there is something you would like to do but can't because of the small player base! :)
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[Edit 1 times,
last edit by Fkjofsd at Apr 30, 2014 11:45:01 PM]

- Play a single ocean. Due to the lack of activity, playing on more than an ocean at the same time is like a must nowadays. There are some moments, especially at the least popular times, where there isn't any tournament or SMH, and just 1-2 pillages in the NB for hours. I like CIs and no way you'll fill a sloop with good people at certain times. And if you don't like cit runs, then you won't SMH much, since it's all about those :/

If you're going for merely elite players, and not ultra-elite, you can do it. It usually takes me ten minutes or so to fill, unless someone else filled directly before me.

- Player-run events, or socializing events. Remember the old mansion or estate parties? They happened sooo often. I've never seen one since I came back. Well, not that you could fill a mansion or an estate nowadays.

Lack of parties is a result of the players, not the game. I haven't seen anyone host one in ages-- or even try to host one.

- Loading times. ZZZZ

You don't need 800 to fix loading times. We loaded faster on Hunter than we do on Emerald, because (1) there was less overjobbing, and (2) citadel runs weren't the be-all and end-all of sea monster hunting, so navvers didn't job quite as elitely.

We really, really need to notch back the payouts on citadels to about halfway between what they are now and what they were before, so that there's more reason to do something other than citadel runs.
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Gurndigarn on Emerald Ocean"Oh, come on. You jobbed onto a ship called the Cursed Isle Raider and you expected *refined*?"

If you're going for merely elite players, and not ultra-elite, you can do it. It usually takes me ten minutes or so to fill, unless someone else filled directly before me.

I was mostly referring to the least popular hours, when the online players number drops to around 170-180 for Meridian and 240-250 for Emerald. I never seen you jobbing at that time (although you probably did)

Lack of parties is a result of the players, not the game. I haven't seen anyone host one in ages-- or even try to host one.

Not that I'm just talking about the game itself.

You don't need 800 to fix loading times. We loaded faster on Hunter than we do on Emerald, because (1) there was less overjobbing, and (2) citadel runs weren't the be-all and end-all of sea monster hunting, so navvers didn't job quite as elitely.

Although it's not just about the players number, it makes a difference. I think you're just referring to the typical cit runs here.

Let's say there is a sloop cit run. They don't happen often, so there will be only one, you'll get the "elite" people you need quite faster with 800 than actually. This applies to CIs, BK runs maybe too. The typical runs won't load much faster because there will be more navvers jobbing too, but the "not typical" would fill much faster
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[Edit 1 times,
last edit by Fkjofsd at May 1, 2014 6:34:29 AM]

You don't need 800 to fix loading times. We loaded faster on Hunter than we do on Emerald, because (1) there was less overjobbing, and (2) citadel runs weren't the be-all and end-all of sea monster hunting, so navvers didn't job quite as elitely.

We really, really need to notch back the payouts on citadels to about halfway between what they are now and what they were before, so that there's more reason to do something other than citadel runs.

I whole-heartedly agree... the developers needs to tackle this cit run obsession that seems to have taken over all the oceans. I'm sure this issue has been brought up far too many times. There's almost always a cit run on the notice board accompanied by nothing else, no decent pillages and regular SMH trips are somewhat rare and unlikely to fill because they're always run on larger ships. The cit runs exclude a huge chunk of players who aren't "elite" enough to job for them and forces them to job for other voyages which don't pay anything close to a decent cit run.

This needs to be balanced either by reducing the effectiveness of cit runs OR by stepping up the other types of voyages to be on-par with cit runs or at a similar level. Another idea would be to make regular (non cit-run) SMH trips viable and profitable on smaller ships, e.g. WB and below.

There are many solutions to restoring the balance but it's clear that cit runs are dominating the game in terms of voyages and that's making it harder for new players to get into the game and enjoy it. If we want to retain players then we should somehow revive pillaging and restore regular SMH trips to their former glory.

tl;dr: Please, please, please fix this game. Or at least make an attempt. Nothing seems to be happening and that's truly discouraging.
----------------------------------------ArmoireYPP on Youtube

Everything addressed in the OP is true. Though I have to disagree with people on cit runs. They're so popular because they're the only type of grinding that rewards comparatively with time spent.

Inflation has been around for years in YPP now - would you rather pillage for an average of 600 PoE per battle (10-30 minutes inbetween each payment) or make about 3,000 - 5,000 for every 10 minutes spent? If anything, cit runs are the only thing keeping the economy from becoming completely dead.
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Oppression - EmeraldRoyal of Tips and TartsBronze Swimming Certificatee

OMs should make a new forum called "Complaints" :/
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Emerald OceanI hate KaltrinaGiamia says, "whats the cheapest familiar besides a rat"Ladyhollie greeter chats, "the guy who does the shiny voice in treasure haul...is it the same one from the outback commercials